


Little Girl

by AdrenalineRevolver



Series: CosettEnjolras AU [7]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: A corpse shows up, Badass Cosette, CosettEnjolras AU, Crossdressing, Death Threats, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Montparnasse is a stray cat, Not to spoil my own story but the mirror thing is important to me, Touches of political intrigue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 07:53:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17361992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdrenalineRevolver/pseuds/AdrenalineRevolver
Summary: Cosette is unfortunately the victim of a robbery. Yet it's not an entirely unpleasant experience.





	Little Girl

Cosette slipped into her home in the usual way and got as far as unbuttoning her coat before she felt the knife at her throat. Panic threatened to grip her but she reminded herself that it would serve her in no way. 

“Why are you here?” She kept her voice quiet and even.

“I could ask the same of you. You are hardly the retiring little girl meant to be living here.” His voice was soft and clear, as if he was extremely used to whispering in the dark. It would be pleasant to listen to if it weren’t for the circumstances.

“I am her brother.” It was an easy lie. 

“Her brother that has never been with her by day and was undressing in her room. Either I have stumbled into quite the scandal or you are not who you claim. Perhaps you should just give me the coat and your money so nothing comes to light.” He taps the blade against her neck almost seeming to remind her that it’s there, as if she could forget. 

“The coat?” Cosette can’t help but sound confused. 

“I am a thief not a moron, I recognize a good coat in my size.” He runs her waistcoat’s material between his fingers. She quickly glances down for some insight into her captor. Cosette would never use such a word in this situation however his hands seemed almost dainty. Slim fingers with well taken care of nails, they were in better shape than Cosette’s. “This as well. It’s a rare treat to find one so fine in my size.” He continued.

“Do you mean to imply that you’re robbing me for fashion?” Cosette was so incensed that her life is being threatened over such a thing that she turned around to face him. From the dim light of her candle she could tell that he was younger than she expected. His lips seemed soft and were a deep red, they reminded her of the petals of the roses Jehan had crawled under nearly a week before. His cheekbones were high set and his eyes, currently wide with surprise, seemed as dark as the room. He was lovely and she, she noted with a bit of regret, was closer to him than she had expected. Close enough that she could smell the fact that he wore a faint orange blossom perfume; she wondered where he stole it.

The tip of his knife was quickly pressed to the front of her neck once he seemed to realize she had taken away control of the situation. “I mean to imply that you can pay me for you life. You should be on your knees thanking me for my kindness, now strip and give me the clothes.”

“Absolutely not.” She snarled. “No one is so vain that they would risk their lives for clothing when you could have just taken what you had and left.”

“I hate to disappoint whatever bizarre fantasy you have decided upon but I have no intentions for anything but the tailoring of your clothes.” He seemed like he was exhausted with her. 

“Fantasy?!” She couldn’t help but raise her voice with disgust. A hand flew over her mouth and she was quickly backed into the wall. 

“If your idiocy has alerted anyone they’ll die as surely as you. And yes, you sheltered choirboy of a man, human depravity knows no bounds. You would be astonished to know how many-“ He froze while listening to floorboards creak. When nothing came of it he sighed in relief. 

Cosette did her best to push the thief away but when she put her hands on his chest he jumped back as if he had been burnt. She supposed she could attack him now but such a reaction left her dumbfounded. It was exactly what she would do if someone placed their hand on her chest. Slowly, a realization came to her. “…My clothes fit would you.”

He regained himself and snarled. “Would you just be silent-“ 

“You can have them.” She interrupted. “Wait outside my window and I’ll hand them to you.”

Confusion crossed his features before crossing into anger. “Do you think me some charity case?” 

Cosette couldn’t help but notice the way he carefully kept her at arm’s length. “No, I think you’re a thief and very likely a killer. If this is all you want you can have it, all I ask is you don’t watch me change. I would expect that you would want the same.”

He sighed before switching the way he was holding his knife. The shift into silence was more disturbing than anything. It would seem that a deadly decision had been made.

Rather than speaking and making it sound like she was begging she quickly undid her waistcoat and let her hair down. The corset underneath her waistcoat was still suppressing her chest but with her hair down the illusion was no doubt shattered. “You found me in this room because it is mine. You’re welcome to my disguise, I can make another.” She softened her voice and set Enjolras’ aside entirely.

The intruder paused and stared at her chest. No, her corset. 

“You can have this as well, it works better than tight clothing or bandaging.” She reaches behind herself and starts to lace the corset. “It scarcely even hurts.”

Tension left her shoulders as the intruder quietly picked up her waistcoat. The touch of hesitance was enough to keep her going. “I still need to kill you.” 

“Then you may easily do so if I betray. You know where I am and I have no intentions of moving. You also know a secret of your own to hold as ransom.” When Cosette finishes with the laces she hands the corset over. “I don’t even know your name. All I know is that we are alike.”

“We are nothing alike. For a silly little girl like you this is some flight of fancy. A game.” The corset was gracefully accepted all the same. 

“Personally I would disagree, but that’s not important. What is it to you?” She was both actually interested and suspected that keeping him talking would ensure her safety.

“The difference between lying dead in a gutter and leaving men to rot in one.” Frustration crossed those pretty features. “ ‘You are beautiful’ it is a compliment to a young man, a threat to a grisette, and a death sentence for a gamine.”

“You’re quite clever then. I likely would sound ridiculous to you as I simply wished to be heard. For me this is a sword rather than a sheild.” She undid her cravat and used it to tie her hair back again. 

He shook his head as if she was completely incomprehensible. “A terrible wish. It is better to just take what you desire and speak little of it.” 

“I fear a better future for France and her people isn’t something one can take without being heard.” Cosette thought it a shame that she didn’t have a pamphlet with her. 

After a moment of staring the intruder covered his mouth to keep from laughing. “You mean to say you’re going to all this trouble to kill yourself? I could give you a thousand simpler ways.”

“But none of them will make life safer for beautiful gamines.” Her voice was delicate as she spoke; it felt as if she was making a gamble for her life and her cause. Yet she knew about such wounds. Even overheard threats made against another can cut to the core. Cosette had never forgotten Thenardier telling a prostitute just what would happen to her if she didn’t start bringing in more money, she likely never would. 

“A change of politics won’t unblacken men’s hearts.” There was a calm certainty about the criminal, as if this deduction on the nature of human souls was made and remade a thousand years prior. There was no playful edge or biting wit as there was with Grantaire, only grim resolution.

“There is a good in everyone. I truly believe this. A monarchy has no reason to look after it’s lowest, they are of no value, however a republic could see that every citizen is worth protecting as the republic is made by the citizens.” They had every reason to join her; it was just a matter of convincing. Though it was like asking a statue to dance, an impossibility from the beginning. But to give up on one would be to give up on all.

“It is sweet that you believe in such things, little girl. I hope that you are killed swiftly for them when the time comes.” He slid the knife back up his sleeve. 

Cosette smiled, it was such a morbid thing and could easily be taken as a threat yet it felt like genuine well wishes. “If I must die it will be happily for my friends and my countrymen.” 

“That is where we differ.” The clothes were carefully folded as he opened the window. “If death makes the mistake of attempting to take me I will make him think that he has grabbed the devil himself.” He slipped out with ease and brushed himself off when he landed. 

She giggled a bit; she imagined it would be like grabbing a feral cat. “I wish you luck in your immortality.” She didn’t ask for a name, she knew she wouldn’t be given one.

He bowed with an over dramatic flair. “I wish you luck in your valiant death.” 

With that he vanished into the night.

In two days time there was a corpse on her usual walk to the café, a sort of inspector it seemed with papers strewn about his body. Papers that seemed to be detailing some of the protests she and her friends had organized. To her horror she realized that this man was no simple inspector; he was a spy who had damning evidence against them. 'Had' being the operative word now that someone had decided to cut his throat.

“Feral cat indeed.” She mumbled to herself as she quickly gathered the evidence. She refused to allow herself smile at either the absurdity of a killer thanking her with a gift the way cat would or the relief that such a danger had passed them by, a man was dead and she had to treat that with the severity it deserved. 

Though admittedly she did snort at the mental image of the dapper assassin sitting patiently outside her door to present her with a dead mouse.

**Author's Note:**

> Revolution approaches.
> 
> ((I'm sorry for all the epithets i know they're annoying but they only refer Montparnasse and I really couldn't justify them giving Cosette a name especially once she realized.))
> 
> Also: Not to be a weeb but Bifauxen Montparnasse can gut me whenever.  
> Also also: Murder presents.


End file.
